


I was tossed around, and now my heart lies far away.

by Glass_O_Lemonade



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DCU, Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-03-05 10:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3117509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glass_O_Lemonade/pseuds/Glass_O_Lemonade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ollie returns to the Watchtower after his brief time hopping through various alternate realities.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I was tossed around, and now my heart lies far away.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written on Tumblr for a friend, Road_of_Ruin. Prompt provided by FallacyFinale.

"What happened next?"

Questions. It was always questions with Batman and never any answers.

Ollie took a sip of coffee from his Styrofoam cup. _To think I actually missed this_ , the archer thought to himself as the drink's aftertaste settled in his mouth. However, it was the aftertaste of home. The aftertaste of his universe and no one else’s. _It's not too bad._

"Arrow."

"Yes, Batman?"

"What happened next?"

"I already told you. I made my way to Star City, but there it was Starling."

"You hopped there?"

"Yes. I then snuck my way into that universe’s Queen Consolidated and there met Felicity."

"The employee in IT?"

"The employee in IT."

Ollie could sense Bruce’s eyes narrowing behind his cowl. The Dark Knight was studying every detail in his recounting of the last week. It didn’t add up. It _wouldn’t_ add up.

"Felicity gave you a place to stay, but she didn’t know how to get you back here."

"I thought we covered that fact half an hour ago."

Batman remained silent.

 _Ask as much as you like. You’re not getting a word out of me._ It wasn’t his plan to become a victim of the multiverse, but Ollie sure as hell was going to keep his business _his_ business.

Bruce didn’t need to know about the third hop, about the third stranger. However, the League’s readings said the length of each of his stays would increase exponentially through the course of the past week. Green Arrow recounting a tale of only two hops was not what Batman was expecting when the archer returned, but that was what he was getting. _Technology is flawed,_ he’d told him at the start. _It got it wrong. I only visited two._

After ten more minutes of uncomfortable silence, Ollie was finally free to leave the interrogation room. Deciding against teleporting to Star City, the exhausted hero occupied one of the available overnight rooms on the tower.

As he fell asleep, memories of his third hop drifted through his mind.

It’d been spontaneous. One moment he was swapping tales with Felicity, the next he was outside a police station in Central City.

Central City. Home of the Flash. A Flash who was a blond thirty-something and not a red-headed twenty-four year old. A Flash with beautiful blue eyes. A Flash who helped Ollie adjust before bombarding him with questions. A Flash who’s laugh was the color of sunshine and who’s heart shone as bright as a star.

He wasn’t the Flash Oliver knew. He wasn’t Wally West, one of the seven League founders. There wasn’t even a League there to speak of. However, that didn’t matter. He was his own hero, his own person. Barry Allen. His name was Barry Allen.

As Ollie fell asleep, memories of his third hop drifted through his mind. Memories of Barry Allen and one special, unforgettable night.


End file.
